We theorized that student test score performance will be positively related to the percentage of school district revenues raised from local taxes and with salary levels of school district administrators. Using both fixed and random effects panel analyses, we examine data for 217 Kindergarten-to-Grade 12 school districts in New Jersey for the years…

Two critical concerns with the rapid and ongoing expansion of charter schools are that they will segregate students and reduce the per-pupil resources available to conventional public schools. The contradictory prior evidence on such questions is based on potentially misleading cross-sectional comparisons. This study provides new evidence on these…

Per pupil spending on teacher salaries is the product of four factors: teacher/pupil ratio, starting salary level, steepness of salary schedule above minimum, and incumbent teachers' placement on the scale. Using California per pupil expenditures on teachers' salaries (for grades three and six) to predict student achievement gives very different…

Lack of statistically significant input/achievement relationships in many production-function studies has bolstered "money doesn't matter" arguments. This study uses detailed national student data to estimate an education production function that omits restrictive assumptions, concluding that school inputs (especially instructional…

Explains the United Kingdom's educational finance system and summarizes research into educational costs and resources at the individual school level, including the Loughborough research projects in the four Local Education Authority areas. Statistical investigations show that inequalities in funding and resource allocation need to be addressed.…

Investigates school spending in Norway, using a disaggregated demand model augmented to include political factors. Disaggregates county governments' high-school spending to identify sources of variation in student/teacher ratio, nonwage spending per student, and student enrollment. Political strength holds down (construction) costs and allows for…

Compares effects of disaggregated education costs of three (Canadian) spending-control regimes: state-level controls, local school-board control with nonoverlapping jurisdiction, and local school-board control with overlapping jurisdiction. Simulations indicate that centralized state or provincial control of spending leads to the lowest teacher…

Develops a model of the child-care environment, concentrating on how child-staff ratios, group size, and caregiver ability influence amount of time children spend on-task and intensity of caregiver-child interactions. The model clarifies these variables' roles and explains regulation's potential costs and benefits. Regulation alone cannot improve…